How to Turn Your Closet Into an Office

4. Measure again – this time for height. This time, determine the height you'll need for your tallest books and binders and add shelves accordingly.

5. Jazz the space up as you would any other room. Make the area feel special by using wallpaper or a fun color on the walls.

6. Plan to keep the desktop clear. Who needs drawers? Check out the system this person has installed to keep items like scissors and pens off the desktop.

7. Consider an L-shape. This person sacrificed a walk-in closet to be able to have some scooting room in the office.

8. Let there be natural light. If you are really going to be spending a lot of time in your walk-in, see if installing a skylight or window in the space is a viable option.

10. Use closet technology. Here closet designer Lisa Adams designed a cabinet system right outside of singer/songwriter Jewel's closet where she can relax, take care of business and yodel.

11. Save space by eliminating the closet doors. Perhaps you've got pesky doors on tracks or you don't have the room for regular hinged doors to swing open. Here simple curtains contain a craft space.

I have to show you the details fo the closet craft space shown above. Take notes on this turquoise back wall. It enlivens this area and designates it as something special.

12. Sacrifice a closet for your passion. This is not technically an office, but this closet is devoted to keeping fabric samples, craft supplies and wrapping paper organized.

Here's another shot of the previous closet.

13. Make sure you have enough shelf support. Learn from me: I decided to put the shelf brackets toward the outermost beams for aesthetic purposes, and now my cheap shelves from the big box store are starting to bow. While aesthetics are important, function is more important.

15. Don't have a closet? Don't lose hope! Armoires and secretary desks can add small work spaces at home and house most of your home office necessities.

Let's take a look at how Houzz users are making do with closet-like home office spaces. Lucas Mire has a tiny closet-like space at the end of his kitchen.

"In a small space living, the home office needs to be compact but mighty. In that regard, my little office nook packs quite an efficient punch. Its proximity at the end of the kitchen makes it accessible, yet semi-private. A few shelves give me the perfect spot for my cookbook collection, thank you notes, filing, my iMac, and music. Plus, if I have any impromptu visitors and have some lingering kitchen counter clutter, I can pile it into a neat stack and put it on the desktop on the other side of the cubby wall, out of sight. It's the ultimate multitasker, and in a small home, that's a definite winner."

Houzz member Tricia Rose has found a compact corner with a view for working on administrative work. "Compact is a kindly way of describing my office," she says. "It used to be the entrance porch and is a tidy 30"x70". I shoehorned a tall Ikea chest in one side for papers and books, and my computer desk is on the other, high level shelves both sides, and me in the middle on my vintage Hille Supporto chair... It gives me a defensible space for administrative tasks but I'm always juggling notebooks and envelopes.

"On the other hand," she says, "I can lean back and wedge my chair in the corner, with my feet up on the doorframe and talk on the phone in perfect comfort, just like Gordon Gecko. The other thing I like is that I don't have my back to the room — hate people creeping up on me."
See more of this house